Veterans in Arizona can now be recognized for their military service on their driver’s license or identification and may qualify to opt out of a test requirement for a commercial license.

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, veterans can have their military service recognized by choosing to add the word “veteran” next to their name on their driver’s license, and they can request a waiver for the skills test for a commercial motor vehicle license if they meet specific criteria.

To receive the “veteran” designation on their license, they must show proof of their status. The veteran must also fill out a new application and take a new photo for the license or ID card.

To qualify for the commercial driver’s license skills test waiver, the veteran must be on active duty or must have been inactive from the military within 90 days under an honorable discharge.

Veterans must have also operated a commercial motor vehicle while in the military, for at least two years directly before being discharged or when applying for the waiver.

The waiver will allow veterans to use their experience and the training they received while in the military to obtain a civilian commercial driver’s license.

While the transportation department will be in charge of handling these services, they are not responsible for making the services a reality. Both of the changes were passed through Arizona legislation, according to Harold Sanders, a representative from the public information office for ADOT.

House bill 2428 created the veteran designation and was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2012. House bill 2076, signed this year, allows veterans to waive the skills test for commercial licenses.

Sanders said because the implementation is still new, it will take time to get an idea of how many veterans are taking advantage of them.

“I don’t know if we will have the data daily or weekly,” Sanders said. “I think it will only be by 30-day time periods, and that’s because all offices are reporting and that has to be turned into one report.”

Robert Rosinski, the student director at the Veterans Education Transition Services Center, said the new services can benefit veterans who use their military ID often because they will no longer have to carry two separate IDs. He added that the new service will most likely affect older veterans more than UA student veterans who are typically younger.

“Some are interested in doing it some are not, for most of us we are fairly recently out of the military. We still have our service connected cards or our military IDs,” Rosinski said. “So it’s not an immediate concern for us, but again for those that have been out of the military for quite a while it can be quite useful.”

– Follow Fernando Galvan @fgalvan35